London

A friend of mine went to London with his girlfriend. I’m pretty sure he was looking to impress her, so I wrote up a little blue planet guide for him. Here it is 🙌

Looking for culture?

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with the Tate Modern. It’s a big tourist hotspot obviously but it’s such a great venue and it’s lovely to explore the southbank around it. If you walk from St Paul’s Cathedral straight over the millenium bridge you’ll have a great entrance and the café in the gallery has a beautiful view over the Thames.

Less well-known is the John Soane museum. It’s this huge period mansion that has been converted into a museum and is full of really interesting and strange artifacts from ancient Egypt and other civilizations.

The Barbican makes for a fantastic afternoon. You could have a look and see if there are any shows happening in the arts centre, otherwise you could just spend your time visiting the indoor gardens and exploring the estates around it. It’s a great example of concrete brutalist architecture and there’s a lovely pond you can sit next to and watch some carp swim about.

I’d also recommend going to the Shakespeare Globe - you can get some cheap standing tickets and get a flavour for classic theatre. If you want to see some smaller shows, head to Chiswick. There are a couple small venues, like The Tabard, with more abstract plays and Chiswick is a very pretty place to spend an evening with lots of gorgeous old buildings, garden pubs and fairy lights.

Looking for walks?

Make your way to Finsbury Park. Finsbury is a little bit rough around the edges so there’s not a great deal to see here but if you walk through the park and exit on the west there’s something called Parkland Walk. It’s a long stretch of forest that used to be a railway. It’s such a nice walk, especially if it’s hot and you want some shade. When you get to Highgate you could rent some bicycles and go to Hampstead Heath (maybe a little hilly but it’ll be worth it). It’s a huge park and very beautiful to walk around.

Explore Camden Passage in Angel to see some really cute shops and cafes. Then I would head down to Regents Canal and walk all the way along to Victoria Park. It’s a good hour or so but is a beautiful walk with cafes dotted about. The reflections in the water always made me feel calm and I used to head there regularly to clear my mind. You could stop off and go to Broadway Market on a Saturday afternoon and then sit down in London Fields. It’s very popular in the summer and people just crack open a few beers and enjoy the ambiance. Otherwise head onto Victoria Park for a longer walk around.

If you fancy venturing further out of town, go to Richmond. There are so many beautiful old buildings and shops and you could easily spend a day popping into cafes and marvelling at the Thames. You could head onto Richmond Park which feels quite wild and is full of deer. Or you could go to the Kew Botanic Gardens. They have huge glass conservatories full of tropical trees.

Things to do in Shoreditch

You’ll have a great time staying here, there’s so much to do and I’m sure just by wandering you’ll stumble into call things. A few places I would recommend:

The Book Club - a nice place for a drink and they have cool events there like spoken word

The Blues Kitchen - very lively venue with live music if you wanted to dance

Dishoom - really nice Indian fusion restaurant

Beigel Bake on Brick Lane - you’ve gotta have one of these famous bagels. There’s a rivalry between the two bagel places on this street. Personally I think they’re both good

Kinglsand Road for Vietnamese restuarants like Sen Viet Vegan

Brick Lane vintage market is fun to explore and there’s some great food trucks in the car park

Colombia Flower Market - go on a Sunday and wander around but prepare yourself for a lot of people, especially on a sunny day. You’ll have to go early in the morning if you want to buy flowers as they sell out.

Spitalfields Market - good food and interesting things to buy

Other nice spots

There are loads of great little spots where you can just wander around. I would recommend Newington Green, Little Venice, and De Beauvoir for cute shops and cafes. Primrose Hill is a great place to go for a sunset view of the London skyline. Hackney Marshes is a nice area to hang out - it’s quite edgy. If you’re looking for a night out, I’d recommend Dalston. If you wanted to do a pub crawl (classic British sport, start in the De Beauvoir Arms, then go to The Scolt Head and end up at the Dalston Jazz Bar.